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Aug 14, 2016
This manga is so completely my cup of tea that I probably can't help but be a little biased in it's favor, but even so it's definitely something everyone should at least try reading.
There are two things about xxxHolic that make it special, that make it stand out in my memory and have it latched permanently into my imagination. First, it's sad. I don't mean it's melodramatic and fraught with character deaths, its just has that perfectly melancholy tone. The enjoyable kind of sad you feel when you stare out your window on rainy days or when you remember happy times gone by. Not
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everything has to be grimdark to make you contemplate the tragedies of life or question the meaning of existence.
Second is the stunning imagery. The story and characters are all interesting and well developed, but this manga would not even be half as good if it wasn't supported by CLAMP's beautiful art and haunting imagery. I'll just list a few of the most memorable- A sprawling red hydrangea bush whispering it's dark hidden secrets into the air. A pocket world of giant daffodils inside a well. A procession of yokai winding through the night like a river as they carry their lanterns to a great magical tree glowing in the distance. Walking down a dark street alone at night, passing a strange man with an umbrella...again, and again... and again. A boy opening a strange shop door to find a lounging woman, covered in her long black tresses and wreathed by smoke from her delicate pipe, smiling an enigmatic, slightly wicked, and slightly sad smile.
In other words, if you love the mysterious, the strange, and the darker side of fantasy you can't do better than this. Add to that great characters that change and grow over the course of the story, an ending that will break your heart, and interesting tie ins to another great manga and why aren't you reading it? Go read it!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 13, 2016
Ooo, I want to join in and heap some praise on Fruits Basket! Yay!
Ok, so we all know that the people who write reviews are generally the ones who most passionately love a show and those who most passionately hate it. So in the interests of not just gushing about this show but actually making a case for why it's a truly great show, I'll address some of the points I've seen in the negative reviews here and then add my own pluses.
1. Tohru is a Mary Sue
- Ok, I definitely understand why people think this, but I definitely DO NOT agree. If you see
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the first episode and Tohru doesn't immediately captivate you, you're likely to think "Oh great, another one of those perfect, never have a moment of doubt, God's gift to the universe shoujo girls." If you start with this opinion, you might stop watching carefully and not catch on to Tohru's real character arc. However if you are actually paying attention, you'll quickly realize that there's a lot more to Tohru, not to mention all the other characters. In fact the complex and utterly full of heart characters are the top reason I love both the show and the manga. First off, Tohru is just a genuinely good and nice person. They actually do exist in real life, it doesn't automatically make her a Mary Sue, get over it. Second of all, Tohru has a lot of deep seated issues. And not just the kind that are supposed to be flaws but make the character look good anyway, actual relatable human flaws. She has unreasonable guilt over her mother's death and tries to assuage it by striving to fulfill the expectations her mother had for her. She also places a lot of her self worth on whether or not she can meet her own high standards for herself. She's lonely, but has a hard time relying on people, even the ones who are truly close to her. And a lot of her cheerful, helpful personality is actually built on self-doubt and selfishness. The manga goes a lot deeper into this in the arcs after the anime ends, but she pushed herself to act that way in order to be more like her father after he died. She felt rejected by both her father's family and her mother and so tried hard to be the person she thought they wanted. Really, like everybody ever, she just wants to be loved by others. This is both good and bad as it helps her empathize with others and prioritize their feelings, but it also causes her to hide what she perceives as her short comings and not be entirely genuine with the people she loves. I think everybody can relate to sincerely wanting to be a good person and trying your best, while never actually feeling good enough. That feeling of dreading that the people around you might find out how fake you actually are, even if in reality they would be more likely to understand exactly how we feel. Lastly, Tohru is just one of the most plain LIKABLE characters I've ever seen. She feels like a real person to me, and even if we never got all the back story about her issues I think I would still like her. She reminds me of some of my best friends in real life, the ones that just put a smile on your face to be around!
2. The story is predictable and repetitive
- This one I don't agree with at all. FB simply has an episodic structure which gradually ties into an overarching story with a strong conclusion of both the conflicts and themes of the narrative at the end. The story does repeat in that Tohru meets each member of the zodiac, learns about their problem, becomes their friend, and then helps them solve their problem or at least gives them a new perspective. But with each new zodiac member the story progresses- we get new and interesting dynamics with our established characters and new insight into the Tohma family. Plus the two main romance threads provide nice through lines, which are indeed predictable, but still satisfying and natural.
3. It has Shoujo cliches out the wazoo
-There's a difference between HAVING tropes and USING tropes effectively. The most cliche and silly thing about FB is definitely the premise. The idea that the zodiac members transform when hugged by the opposite sex is quite obviously the kind of shoujo silliness which is only there to force interesting romantic conflicts between the characters. When I first saw the show, my reaction was "Seriously?" I mean, WHY would that be a stipulation of this kind of ancient curse? Just why? What exactly constitutes a "hug" anyway? A kiss seems more thematically appropriate, but obviously it would be much harder to get the characters to accidentally kiss each other all the time.... Anyway, just accept the premise. That's not the interesting part, the interesting part is what the author DOES with it. She uses this seemingly forced curse to explore themes of isolation, discrimination, alienation from society, identity, fear of intimacy, emotional abuse, feeling trapped by your circumstances, how young people struggle to find meaning and purpose as they grow up, co-dependent relationships vs healthy relationships... I could go on. And that's just the main premise and themes. A lot of the characters fit into well-used stereotypes, but I understand exactly WHY they are that kind of person within the context of the story. Basically this show is indeed a classic shoujo story, but it knows how to deliver on and develop that kind of story better than any other shoujo I've seen.
Ok, final glowing remarks (LOL). This is one of the best manga adaptations around. It'is a show I've re-watched many times because the experience is just so enjoyable. The tone is light, heart-warming, hilarious, touching, with just a touch of the bizarre and a subtle unease from the darker underlying themes, especially near the end. It's just such a satisfying feeling to follow the story from beginning to end. The pacing is near perfect and the art, while dated, is clean, simple, and mostly lovely. I especially commend how well the story raps up in the anime even though the manga goes on for more than twice as long in terms of plot. It feels like a complete work that conveys the message it wants to, a message that is compatible with the manga even if the manga has much longer to explore it. This show is a perfect as a gateway anime- a relatively short but complete work that's easy to get drawn into. In case you couldn't tell, I LOVE THIS SHOW!!! Yay! Ok, the end XP
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 13, 2016
It seems like most people either love or hate this show. I understand why some people would really appreciate this kind of work, but I'm gonna have to go with the "hate" side.
I saw another review mentioned that this is a great show squeezed into far too few episodes, and I think that's a fair assessment- although the biggest problem is exactly HOW they squeezed it in. The Sci-Fi premise is interesting, the setting detailed and forbidding, the set up for an epic struggle to the top all you could wish for in this kind of story. However, the show never delivered on what
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it promised me. It's like they took this whole complex story arc spanning years and multiple character arcs and decided to cut out all of the most interesting parts. Here's the basic structure of the show- Set up the scenario and characters, present the complex problems that need to be solved, build up to the conflict, and- cut to __ years later! Repeat. The first time this happened I literally went "HUH?!" Like, did I skip an episode somehow? Here's our main character, a young boy thrown into a hostile environment with the goals to survive and find out why he's here and what happened to cause his parent's death. Oh and maybe find his brother. And instead of showing me his journey and struggle, the show just goes "Okay, and now he's a powerful ruler and has completely different goals and motivations than when you last saw him, aren't you glad we didn't show you all that juicy drama and character growth?" The show goes on with increasingly frequent time skips and setting changes until the plot and character progressions have no weight at all, even when they logically make sense (which isn't all that often). The PAINFULLY disappointing final episode sealed this as one of the least satisfying anime I have ever seen. Almost every opportunity for catharsis and pay off was purposefully squandered, the characters were almost all completely un-relatable jerks, and I don't even REMEMBER how the show tried to half-bakedly resolve any of the questions the story started out with. I'm sorry if you think this show is stylish and edgy with an interesting and unconventional plot progression, but it really did almost nothing for me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Aug 10, 2016
The best thing about this manhwa is definitely the art- specifically the scenery porn. I love this kind of style, and it's what made me pick up the series in the first place. It reminds me a lot of CLAMP- intricate, highly decorated, beautiful line work. It's also an immediately interesting premise. A young woman is sacrificed to the Water God in order to stave off the terrible drought that plagues her village, and then finds herself living in the world of the gods with her extremely mysterious new husband.
Unfortunately the interesting premise gets increasingly bogged down in predictable makjang plot twists, and the
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characters become more and more incomprehensible and poorly motivated as the romantic conflicts drag on and on without resolution. This kind of soapy romance could still have been enjoyable, however, IF the mangaka was able to properly portray the over the top emotions involved. This is the key factor that made me drop this series half way through the third arc- the characters just DO NOT EMOTE in a satisfactory way. The mangaka doesn't have a perfect grasp of how to convey motion and flow in general, and subtle facial expressions are definitely way beyond her. The experience was exactly like watching a high budget, beautifully costumed, beautifully produced historical fantasy drama cast entirely with wooden idol actors. Eventually it got so frustrating I just couldn't keep going.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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